Join us this week for a very special Indie Spirit as we Honor Veteran’s Day on Thurs, 11-11 at 11 am EST – an auspicious day and time indeed for Transformation, Gratitude, Unity and Renewal. Join us as we discuss the concept of Survivor Thinking, Loss and Gratitude along with enjoying some great indie music and a healing meditation. Come, join the thanksgiving. Indie Spirit Radio

Sometimes the sun IS breaking through right around the corner…just a little further.

Sometimes it is where you choose to put your attention. Do you focus on the brilliance bursting at the edges of your life or the browning grass beneath your step?

You want to transform your life?  Try guided meditation.  Why?  To transform your life, you must first change your thoughts and that’s the rub – how to change your thoughts from what is not working to what is…and again I answer with guided meditation.

Guided meditation helps create the space within yourself to identify thoughts that are not working and replacing them with new thought patterns that enhance your life.  Meditation isn’t a quick fix, but a foundation for real transformation

Several years ago I went to a lecture by Marianne Williamson.  A person in the audience wanted her guidance on why her life wasn’t getting any better.  This person had struggled with eating disorders and depression in the past, but she just couldn’t quite find her way out.  Williamson asked her what she was doing to help herself.  The woman responded with, “I go to therapy and have asked God to help me.” 

Williamson responded, “Not enough.”  I was stunned.  Then Williamson continued, “If you had a failing liver, you would be taking medicines every day, where is your medicine for your ailment today?  Not a once a week plan, but every day?  Changing your life isn’t something you do a couple times a week, but every day.”  Williamson suggested specific prayer (she’s a proponent of A Course In Miracles) and meditation as a place to start.

I absolutely and whole-hearted agree with Williamson – transformation doesn’t happen overnight, but as a result of many steps.  This is not to say transformation is difficult as much as it is a habit – some habits are easier than others to change.  To change a habit,  first identify something to replace it with.  For instance, you’ll see a lot of quitting smokers chewing gum.

For many people, their bad habit is how they are thinking about themselves or life, i.e. I’m unlovable or life is unfair, there’s never enough money.  Both these thoughts cripple the individual and manifest incident after incident in their own lives to valid these negative beliefs.  So like the smoker that quits cigarettes, one must quit negative thinking, but what to replace it with?  Guided meditation allows you to replace negative thought patterns with ones of success and peace. 

Try falling asleep to guided meditation and discover for yourself how these new ideas slip into your dreams and your language easily and effortlessly.  Whenever I am needing a little extra support I listen to I Meet Success or I am Safe.  Guided Meditation has transformed my life, how ‘bout you?

3.  Intuition.  Do you listen to your hunches?  When you get that feeling – do you follow it?  Do you look for signs?  Intuition is directly linked to faith.  Intuition just takes faith one-step further – it becomes a two-way street, spirit helps YOU. 

I had a minister that used to say intuition is the whispering of God’s voice directly to you.  I like that.  It speaks to my belief that God wants each of us to be happy and to live gorgeous, abundant lives.  It’s a partnership.

The stumbling block is often understanding the messages or even seeing the signs in the first place.  There are no direct phone lines to spirit – it’s more complicated.  The messages can be confusing, but more often than not, you are the problem.  The truth, or the intuitive message that is staring at you seems too hard, so you deny it.  That’s the easy part, denying it.

Usually intuition doesn’t involve a flaming bush or an old man with tablets.  It’s a knowing.  It’s hearing in the spaces between the words.  You can’t explain why you know something – it’s just true.  Hence the choice is yours to either enhance your life with your own intuition, or ignore the gift.  Ignoring seems easier somehow.

Unfortunately it has been my experience that spirit starts with a tap on the shoulder to get your attention, but invariably applies more and more strain to get you to see the full picture. 

Look at your life right now – is there some truth you are trying to avoid?  Could you let go and ask for help?  What is your intuition trying to tell you?  Listen.

2.  Faith.  What is faith?  Simply, to know you are always held; you are not alone, support is always available.  The support may not be seen at this moment, but it is there, waiting for you. 

Therefore when trouble comes and it will, it’s faith that helps you hold on ‘til morning.  Yes, life will flow with its ups and downs, but what do you do when tragedy beats a path to your door?  Do you roll with the waves or clutch onto whatever looks solid?  Do fears force you into decisions that are not good for you?

Quickly in life, you discover fear eats faith.  Fear is such an easy commodity to pedal too.  A well placed word, a frightened look; it’s an easy emotion to trigger in others…and most especially, in you.  I once heard a quote about fear; ‘fears are the dragons that keep you from your dreams.’  What fears keep you from realizing your dreams?  Will you have enough?  Money?  Love?  Support?

However if faith answers the door to fear’s call, fear disappears.  But I can’t give you faith.  It’s a gift you choose to give to yourself when either all else fails or you have some kind of spiritual awakening.  What I can do is invite you to open the door to more…

So today ask spirit for support.  Ask for direct and clear guidance to be revealed to you today about a specific issue you need help with.  Now here’s your part – watch for it and listen.  Chances are humor will be used; so remember not to take yourself too seriously.  And listen, really listen, don’t let the ‘doubting Thomas’ inside of you think yourself out of the message…Can you accept the gift?  The message?  The support?

When you change the way you look at things, things change.

…Kicking my a$$.  Let’s see – my computer has melted down, the battery on my car died, the heat in our home won’t turn on anymore, suddenly my email works sporadically and insult to injury, the person I am to travel to Belize with next week is stuck in Europe under a volcanic cloud.  Where is my bed that I can hide under until May 11^th? 

The planet mercury doesn’t actually travel backwards in the sky – it just appears to be.  Mercury retrograde can throw communication, travel, mail, appointments, commerce and perception all into chaos.  Your car may break down.  You may forget appointments.  Have many, many miscommunications.  Ex-boyfriends/girlfriends may show up.  Old issues could arise in your relationships…

Although this can be a trying time (at least for me it has been!), it can also be one of transformation.  Opportunities present to resolve old issues, it’s a great time to work on long-term projects and often there are surprise contacts from long-lost friends.  Gratefully know this is temporary, in couple weeks mercury will be moving forward again.  So best bet, just roll with and have a sense of humor.  Heck, I got a new computer!

5.  Where do you like to go on vacation?  Think about it – are you a beach person?  Mountains?  Does a big city escape sound delightful?  Or are you more interested in wandering a vineyard?  What do you like to do on vacation?  Read?  Play?  Explore a new area? 

 Now here is the transformational question – can you get more vacation into your life now?  Maybe you can’t get to the beach or mountains this year, but you could go explore a town you’ve never visited before and stay within a few hours of your home.  Or this summer you could go for more picnics and walks. Maybe you can simple choose to stretch out on a huge blanket in the sun to read and doze the afternoon away… 

 The good things in life aren’t to be saved up for a week here and there on vacation.  Good things aren’t to be put off day after day until the ‘right’ moment.  Life is meant to be savored this moment.  “Suck the marrow of the day,” so to speak.  This is your life, now go have some fun!

4.  Who do you want to be?  Just you – not the ‘you’ your parents, lover or even friends want you to be, but who do you want to be?  Do you want to be generous?  Do you want to be funny?  Do you want to be happy?  Do you want to be sexy?  Do want to be successful?

 Here’s the thing, I bet you know what you don’t want, but do you know what you do want?  When you focus your attention on the don’ts, you can never get to what you do want or who you want to be.  There’s a negative mindset that attaches to the don’ts and that is all you can see in any situation – how it doesn’t work, you don’t like this or that…So today instead of focusing on what you don’t like about a person, a situation or even yourself, concentrate on what you do like…Not surprisingly you will notice when you focus on the do-likes about a person or situation, suddenly things are better.  You have more energy.  You are in a better mood and life is better…